An Alternate Chronology for the Near East during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, and Its

465 Pages·2008·3.91 MB·English

Aspects of Ancient Near Eastern Chronology
(c. 1600 – 700 BC)

Pierce James Furlong

Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements
of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

February 2007

Centre for Classics and Archaeology
The University of Melbourne

© Pierce J Furlong, 2007

Abstract

There can be no more important topic in historical studies than chronology,
for it is chronology which gives meaning to history by placing individuals,
events and material remains within their true sequence. If this sequence does
not match historical actuality, then, the historical narrative drawn from the
available evidence may appear confused, incomplete or even contradictory.
The history of the Near East is bound together by an accurate and
continuous absolute chronology which stretches back to the early first
millennium BC. However, beyond that point in time we are forced to rely upon
relative chronologies for the histories of the Great Kingdoms of Egypt,
Babylonia, Assyria and Hatti, amongst others. Scholars have pieced together
these relative chronologies over the last one-two centuries using information
from King-lists, royal annals and administrative documents. The end result of
this major enterprise is, today, what can best be described as an extremely
complex but little understood jigsaw puzzle composed of a multiplicity of
loosely connected data.
Moreover, many of the pieces of this puzzle are missing. For example,
while the relative chronology of the Egyptian New Kingdom (18th-20th
Dynasties) is fairly well established, it is separated from the absolute
chronology of the 7th century BC Saite Dynasty by the chronologically
indeterminate and confused Third Intermediate Period (21st-25th Dynasties).
Meanwhile, Assyrian chronology is generally considered reliable as far back
as the 14th century BC. However, there are almost 100 years during the 11th-
10th centuries BC from which practically no contemporary Assyrian
documents have survived, thereby raising doubt in the minds of some writers
over the true chronology of this period. And as for the known synchronisms
between Egyptian and Mesopotamian monarchs which are now seen as
confirming the historical reliability of the current Late Bronze Age Near
Eastern chronology, these synchronisms are not without their own significant
difficulties.
The aim of my thesis has been to investigate the chronology of the Near
East during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age periods (c. 1600–700 BC) to
see whether or not the current ‘conventional’ chronology is as reliable as its
i
adherents maintain; and if not, to investigate the possibility of constructing an
alternate chronology which better matches historical actuality.
As a result of my research, I will argue that the conventional chronology is
fundamentally wrong, and that Egyptian New Kingdom (Memphite) dates
should be lowered by 200 years. This chronological adjustment will be
achieved in two stages: first, the removal of precisely 85 years of absolute
Assyrian chronology from between the reigns of Shalmaneser II and Ashur-
dan II; and second, the downward displacement of Egyptian Memphite dates
relative to LBA Assyrian chronology by a further 115 years. Moreover, I will
rely upon Kuhnian epistemology to structure this alternate chronology so as to
make it methodologically superior to the conventional chronology in terms of
historical accuracy, precision, consistency and testability.
ii
This is to certify that:
(i) the thesis comprises only my original work towards the PhD;
(ii) due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used;
(iii) the thesis is 106,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps,
bibliographies and appendices, as approved by the RHD Committee.

Pierce Furlong

October 2007
-------------------------------------------

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my supervisor, Professor Antonio
Sagona, for his valuable support in bringing this work to fruition. I next wish to thank
Dr. Stephen Bourke, The Near Eastern Archaeology Foundation, The University of
Sydney, who kindly read an earlier draft of my thesis and made various valuable
comments. I would also like to thank Dr. Murray Adamthwaite and Dr. Louise
Hitchcock, who acted as co-supervisors at certain stages of my candidature. Finally, I
would like to thank the unnamed examiners who made a number of valuable
recommendations, some of which I adopted.

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Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Methodology 13
Chapter 2 Mesopotamian Chronology
Introduction 27
2:1 Assyrian Absolute Chronology 29
2:1.1 Shadow Kings of Assyria 29
2:1.2 Tuthmosis III, Ashur-uballit I and El-Amarna Letter 15 35
2:1.3 Hanigalbat and Assyria 42
2:1.4 The First Assyro-Hittite War of Tiglath-pileser I 45
2:1.5 The Second Assyro-Hittite War of Tiglath-pileser I 50
2:1.6 Ashur-rabi II and the Aramean Invasion of Assyria 63
2:1.7 The Dynasty of Ashur-rabi II and the Kingdom of Hana 68
2:2 Babylonian Relative Chronology 73
2:2.1 Synchronistic History or Chronicle P? 73
2:2.2 Kassite Anomalies 76
2:2.3 KBo I 10 and the Founding of the Second Dynasty of Isin 88
2:3 Babylonian Absolute Chronology 93
2:3.1 Tukulti-Ninurta I and the Assyrian Interregnum in Babylonia 93
2:3.2 Anomalous Dating Formulae 100
2:3.3 Text K.2660, Akkadian Prophecy Text A, and Chronicle 25 103
2:3.4 Usurper Kings and Babylonian History 113
2:3.5 Tukulti-Ninurta (I) or Ninurta-tukulti-(Ashur)? 122
2:4 The Aramean Invasion of Babylonia and its Aftermath 123
Conclusion 139
Chapter 3 Assyria, Mitanni/Hanigalbat and Hatti
Introduction 145
3:1 Assyrian Revival: Adad-nirari I and the Kingdom of Hanigalbat 146
3:1.1 Hanigalbat, Mitanni and Hurri Land: Three Kingdoms, One History 146
3:1.2 Connected Documents: KBo I 20, CTH 41 and KUB XXIII 102 152
3:1.3 Historical Repercussions 162
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3:2 Crisis in Hatti Land: Shalmaneser I and Tudhaliya II 166
3:3 Builder of Empire: Shuppiluliuma I and the Three Mitannian Wars 177
3:4 Hittite Consolidation: Murshili II and Tukulti-Ninurta I 185
Conclusion 191
Chapter 4 The Egyptian Third Intermediate Period
Introduction 193
4:1 Synchronous Events 193
4:2 The High Priests of Amun at Thebes 201
4:3 The Twenty-First Dynasty 204
4:4 The Twenty-Fifth Kushite Dynasty 211
4:5 Questions of Identity 216
4:6 The Epitome of Manetho 225
4:7 Genealogical Links – Egyptian Kings from the 20th to 23rd Dynasties 229
4:8 Genealogical Links – Noble Families 240
Conclusion 255
Chapter 5 Scientific Dating
Introduction 257
5:1 Scientific Dating Techniques 258
5:1.1 Dendrochronology 258
5:1.2 Radiocarbon Dating 266
5:1.3 Ice-Core Analysis 271
5:2 Science and History in the Debate over Chronology 271
5:2.1 Dating the LBA Volcanic Eruption of Thera 271
5:2.2 Tel Dor, Tel Rehov and the ‘Low Chronology’ Debate 277
Conclusion 283
Thesis Conclusion 285
Chronological Tables
A Proposed Collateral Kingdoms in Assyria and Babylonia during the 288
Early Iron Age
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B Genealogical Arrangement of Assyrian Kings from Shamshi-Adad I 289
to Ashur-uballit I
C Proposed Collateral Kingdoms in Babylonia during the Late Bronze Age 290
D Alternate Chronology of the Egyptian Third Intermediate Period 291
E Alternate Chronology of the High Priests of Amun at Thebes 292
F(1) Proposed Genealogy of the Egyptian Twentieth to Twenty-Second 293
Dynasties
F(2) Proposed Genealogical Relationship between the HPM Shedsunefertem A 293
and the Twenty-Second Dynasty
G Proposed Composite Genealogy of the Families of Nebneteru iii, 294
Nesipakashuti iii and Neseramun i (Adapted from Bierbrier
1975, Chart XIV (p. 60) and Chart XV (p. 68))
H Chronology of the Kings of Israel and Judah from the United 295
Monarchy to 701 BC
I The ‘Zadokite’ Lineage and Other Family Members 296
J Israel in the Period of the Judges 297
K Archaeo-Historical Stratigraphy and Synchronisms in Iron Age 298
Canaan/Palestine (Two pages, 1/2 and 2/2)
L Chronology A-E – An Alternate Chronology for the Late Bronze 300
and Early Iron Age Near East (Three pages, 1/3, 2/3 and 3/3)
Abbreviations 303
References 305
Appendix 1 Aspects of Israelite Chronology and History during the
‘Biblical’ Period
Introduction 329
1:1 The Divided Monarchy 336
1:1.1 Israel, a Triple Synchronism 336
1:1.2 Judah, from Rehoboam to Ahaziah 342
1:1.3 Israel-Judah, from Jehu to Hezekiah 345
1:1.4 Shoshenq/Shishak, a Question of Identity 350
1:1.5 Shoshenq I and King Jehoshaphat of Judah 355
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1:2 The United Monarchy 357
1:3 From the Exodus to the United Monarchy under David 362
1:3.1 Saul and the Sea Peoples Invasion 362
1:3.2 The ‘Zadokite’ Lineage and Other Matters 365
1:4 The Period of the Judges 376
1:4.1 Moabite, Midianite, Ammonite and Philistine Oppression 377
1:4.2 Canaanite Oppression 385
1:4.3 Edomite(?) Oppression 389
Conclusion 393
Appendix 2 Archaeo-Historical Synchronisms and the Stratigraphy of
Iron Age Canaan/Palestine
Introduction 397
2:1 Egypt, Canaan/Palestine and Israel-Judah 397
2:1.1 Historical Predictions 397
2:1.2 Military Campaigns and Archaeological Horizons 400
2:2 Gezer 405
2:3 The Jezreel and Beth Shean Valleys 412
2:4 Ahab and Ben-hadad 417
2:5 Hazor and Tel Dan 420
2:6 Cultural Influences 428
2:6.1 Military Architecture 428
2:6.2 Iron Age II Red-slip and Hand-burnished Pottery 434
2:7 The Radiocarbon Debate 437
2:7.1 Tel Dor 437
2:7.2 Tel Rehov 439
2:8 Southern Canaan/Palestine 442
2:8.1 Lachish, Tel Sera and Tel Haror 442
2:8.2 Beersheba, Tel Masos and Arad 446
Conclusion 453
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